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Buried alive: Uncovering America's hoarding problem

Hoarding has been the subject of numerous documentaries, reality shows and news reports recently, but as a disorder it is just starting to be researched.

Up until Dec. 2012, hoarding was not considered a separate, distinct mental disorder. Before that it was considered to be a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. However often hoarders don't display any other symptoms of OCD.

The International OCD Foundation defines hoarding as "a complex disorder that is made up of three connected problems: 1) collecting too many items, 2) difficulty getting rid of items, and 3) problems with organization."

Hoarding is more likely to occur in older adults, who may also suffer from other medical issues. However, according to the International OCD Foundation, "Initial onset of hoarding symptoms is believed to occur in childhood or adolescence with a chronic and progressive course throughout the lifespan. There is little evidence for late onset hoarding. Hoarding severity increases with each decade of life, thus older adults experience very serious levels of hoarding."

Too much shopping is the most common way that people who hoard collect items. Three out of four shop too much, according to the International OCD Foundation.

While excessive shopping leads to the accumulation of too many things. The hallmark of hoarding is the inability to get rid of items. According to the International OCD Foundation, "The most frequent reason for saving things is to prevent waste, followed by informational content, emotional attachment, and finally, liking the way something looks or feels."

Some of the things that characterize OCD-based hoarding are obsessions, such as superstitious thoughts. For instance, a sufferer may believe that throwing something away will result in some kind of catastrophe. There may also be beliefs that things can become contaminated. So a hoarder may not allow objects to be touched for fear of this, so the objects pile up and accumulate.

Extreme hoarding can pose a significant danger to sufferers, family and even neighbors.

The spillover effect from hoarding has even prompted some communities around the U.S. to form hoarding task forces.

Fairfax County in Virginia formed a Hoarding Task Force in 1998. According to the county's website, the task force combines resources to provide a coordinated response to residential hoarding when it "threatens life, safety and property."

One of the primary dangers of hoarding is fire risk. The accumulation of combustible materials, such as newspapers, clothing and rubbish, can pose a severe fire hazard. And escaping a fire in a hoarder's home can be almost impossible.

Some hoarding can reach such overwhelming levels that it actually distresses the structure of a home. According to the Fairfax County Hoarding Task Force, "The volume of hoarded items, often stacked from floor to ceiling, is extremely heavy and imposes structural loads up to 500 percent above the minimum design load. Structural damage threatens the occupants, public safety personnel and adjacent buildings or townhouses."

Finally hoarding can also lead to an increased risk of disease, injury and infestation.

As items stack up, it becomes nearly impossible to clean a home. The resulting garbage may attract rodents and lead to very unsanitary living conditions.

There are different kinds of hoardings. They break down into two main groups – 1. The hoarding of objects. 2. The hoarding of animals.

According to the International OCD Foundation, "Animal hoarding is more than just having a large number of animals, although numbers do need to be taken into account. The published definition of an animal hoarder [Patronek 1999] is someone who: Accumulates a large number of animals, and fails to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, and veterinary care, and fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals (including disease, starvation and death) or the environment (severe overcrowding and extremely unsanitary conditions), and fails to act on the negative effect of the collection on their own health and well-being and that of other household members.

In worst-case scenarios, animal hoarders' homes will be so damaged from accumulated feces and urine that they are condemned as unfit for human habitation, according to the International OCD Foundation.

"Animal hoarding occurs in every community, and it is estimated that there are three to five thousand cases each year in the US, involving up to 250,000 animals. There is now a searchable database of cases with descriptions of their consequences for animals, people, and communities," states the International OCD Foundation on its website.